Having no formal acting training, Helena Bonham Carter made her professional acting debut at the age of 16 in a television commercial and in a minor TV film "A Pattern of Roses". She subsequently secured her first leading role in a film in the 1986 "Lady Jane" as the title character. In fact, her breakthrough role was that of Lucy Honeychurch in "A Room with a View", which was filmed after "Lady Jane", but released a year earlier. After that she filmed roles in such films, as "A Hazard of Hearts", "The Mask", "Dancing Queen", and "Twelfth Night: Or What You Will".

Carter rose to international stardom with her portrayal of Kate Croy in the 1997 "The Wings of the Dove", through which she earned her first Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. She had since lent her famous figure to numerous notable film features, including "Planet of the Apes", "Big Fish", "Conversations with Other Women", and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". She, moreover, also starred as Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter film series; "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix", "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows � Part 1", and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows � Part 2".

After filming roles in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street", "Terminator Salvation", and "Alice in Wonderland", Carter landed the role of Queen Elizabeth in the 2010 "The King's Speech". This was followed with parts in "Great Expectations" (2012), "Les Mis�rables" (2012), "Cinderella" (2015), also "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass" (2015). As for Carter's TV works, she had among others guest starred on "Miami Vice", "Absolutely Fabulous", "Merlin", "Henry VIII", also "Life's Too Short".

Carter was born in Golders Green, London on May 26, 1966. She began dating film director Tim Burton since 2001. They have two children together; son Billy Raymond Burton (b. 2003) and daughter Nell Burton (b. 2007).